The Basics of Grace: Doubt and Assurance

Spencer Smith — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:40:07 -0400

The Basics of Grace: Doubt and Assurance

Spencer Smith — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:35:50 -0400

Doubt and Assurance
Romans 5:1-11

Some of you are here for the first time today. And you don't know what to expect from any of us. When we passed the Friendship Folders, you didn't know whether to write you name and phone number on their or not, because if you did, someone might come by and visit you and you don't know if you want that to happen or not. Some of you remember your first Sunday here. It was a quandary, wasn't it? Sign in or not. Who know who may call or show up at your door.
            I understand the situation, because I have lived through it as well. Some years ago, Caroline and I moved to a new community. The first Sunday we were in town, we went to a little Baptist church. It was in our neighborhood and very convenient. The Wednesday after our first trip to that church, the pastor and a couple of the church members visited us at our home. They were very polite and cordial. They were glad that we had come to their church and they welcomed us back again. But after only one Sunday, we were certain that that was not the church for us. It was fine for others, but not us. The next Sunday we went to a large Presbyterian church, but I didn't feel comfortable there. They had to use a shoehorn to squeeze us into the pew and that was just too tight for me. Wednesday night came and went and no one showed up. We were relieved. The next Sunday, we went to a large United Methodist church. It was a good Sunday. We both like that church. And sure enough on Wednesday evening three people from that church came to visit us. They were very polite and cordial. Like the Baptists, but as the evening went on they got a little pushier. In fact, they got a lot pushier. Before the evening was over, one of them leaned towards me and intently asked, "If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?" Well, you know it had been a day or two since anyone had asked me that exact question. Lots of things went through my head. I was still practicing law, so I could argue either side of this issue. And a few other things, but I decided to do it straight and be honest. So I said that I wasn't sure. I had just gone through lots of changes in my life. At one point I thought I was a pretty good person. I worked hard. I went to church. I was a moral person, but some things that had happened to me that made me question my smug certainties. And if that was the case then, it might also be true now. Maybe the next day, the world would open us new vistas and I would see myself in an even less charitable light. To make a long story short, I had discovered that I wasn't nearly as good as I thought I was. And that new information made me a little uncertain about a lot of things. My claim to heaven was one of those things. My visitor was obviously unsatisfied with that answer and left disappointed. We eventually joined that church in spite of those folks.
            But let me hasten to assure our guests that I will NOT show up at your doorstep on Wednesday night. Wednesdays are very busy around here. So you don't have to worry about that. No one will show up unannounced. You should get a letter from me. We want to be welcoming, but we don't want to be invasive.
            But I would be curious as to how you would have answered that visitor at your door. I'm not talking about answering for anyone else. I'm just talking about how you would answer for yourself. We can never be quite sure about others. They can surprise us and we can surprise others. In fact a came across a little poem that says it well. It goes like this:
I dreamt death came the other night and heaven's gates swung wide.
An angel with a Halo bright ushered me inside.
And there!
To my astonishment stood folks I'd judged and labeled as ‘Quite Unfit,' ‘Of Little Worth,' and ‘Spiritually Disabled.'
Indignant words rose to my lips but never were set free.
For every face showed stunned surprise.
Not one had expected me!!!

            I'm not asking about anyone but you. How would you answer for yourself? I thought about it for a minute and I could only come up with three alternatives. You may have others, but there were only three that I could come up with.

First, you could say, "I'm certain that I would not go to heaven, if I were to die right at this moment." That would be one choice. The folks are really certain they are going the wrong way have varying reactions to the idea, but most of them don't really like it. A pastor was taking his very first airplane trip and he was extremely nervous. Since he was wearing one of those clerical collars, the flight attendant guessed he was a pastor. She noticed his nervousness and said, "Sir, I'm surprised at you. You are obviously a man of faith. Why in the world are you nervous?" He replied, "Young lady, the scriptures say, ‘Lo, I will be with you always.' The scriptures don't say anything about ‘High!'" You could be certain your destiny is going to be unpleasant!

Second, you could answer that you are definitely going to heaven. You are confident. There is no doubt about it in your mind or heart. Completely certain. I went to a tent revival one night. I had never been to one of those things before. They had an honest-to-goodness tent with a stage and a choir and a couple of preachers. I got there while the choir was singing, but before long a rather large lady began to preach. And when she started to preach, no one went to sleep. The amplifier on her public address system was very good and before long she got pretty wound up. (It was at about this point that I was wishing I was in the back pew, so I have lots of sympathy with those of you who like the back pew. After all you never know what might happen around here!) Anyway, she started hollering into her microphone something like this. "I know that I know that I know that I know that I know that I know that I know that I have been saved and that I am going to heaven." She convinced me! She was pretty certain, wasn't she? And you could be one of those people. You may not put all of the emotion and volume into that she did, but that is still your choice.

Third choice. This is one of uncertainty. You really aren't sure what would happen in you were to die tonight. Now while I've been talking, you may have been mentally adding up the score. You said, "Let's see. I have been pretty good at coming to church lately. I make sure that the kids get to Sunday school every once in a while. I haven't kicked the cat for at least a week or two. We even put something in the collection plate. Do you suppose that is enough to get me into heaven?" But you aren't certain. If you have been trying to tally up your score, forget it. That is NOT what this is all about. You need to get a copy of last week's sermon.
            I want you to know that it is alright to have doubts and it is alright to question. In some churches and some places that is not O.K. In some places, if you are uncertain or have questions that means you don't trust God or you don't have faith and if you don't have faith, then you have not been put right with God. It's alright to question and doubt. It is very Methodist to do that.
            Carl Jung, the famous psychoanalyst, was a preacher's kid. He was raised in the home of a minister, but he and his father never agreed very well on religion. Jung's father always emphasized belief. You must believe. That was most important for him.   But the son had an inquiring mind. And whenever they discussed religion, they ended up in an argument. The son would have a question and his father would say your question is not important. The only thing important is to believe! The son would then say, "then give me some of this belief!" And the father would storm from the room. Some people believe it is wrong to doubt or question. I do not. But if you do nothing about your doubts or your uncertainties, then I have a problem. If you do not pursue your doubts, if you simply live with them, then I see a problem. Doubts can be the building blocks of our faith. They can lead us to that next step.
            It was doubt that started Methodist. Does that surprise you? It is true. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement was born into the family of a minister. He went to school to become a minister himself. He was ordained. Then he went to America, the new world, to convert Indians. But his ministry was a miserable flop. Not one Indian was converted because of his ministry, but worse than that, he was run out of the country. He came back to England with his tail between his legs a total and complete failure. After all of that, he was not even sure he was a Christian. If those three visitors who came to my house had looked up John Wesley, and asked him what would happen to him if he died that night, he would have had to tell them that he didn't know! Because he didn't know! But he wanted to know. He wanted to be certain. He wanted to have that assurance and so he pursued it. He read scripture and became convinced that certainty was possible. He prayed for it. He talked with friends who had it. Finally, one evening, May 24, 1738, he went to a meeting of Christians on Aldersgate Street. Someone was reading from Martin Luther's preface to the book of Romans. It was talking about how we are made righteous in the eyes of God by trust in what Jesus has done. And it happened. The experience. The certainty. The assurance. Wesley wrote in his journey, "I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine and saved me from the law of sin and death." That didn't mean that Wesley never ever doubted again. He did have his moments, but what had begun at Aldersgate gradually became an unshakable assurance and confidence in the goodness of God.
            You don't have to be certain. It is not a necessity. It is not the thing that you hang your hat on. It's a bonus. It's an extra gift. It's a plus. And you can be sure. It is that next step of grace after being put right with Jesus. We can be certain!
            Its like someone who is having to fly standby. Lots of you have done that, haven't you? Have you ever noticed the difference between those people who have confirmed reservations and those who are flying standby? The ones who have tickets lounge around. They read books or look at the newspaper. Maybe they do some people watching. They yawn a lot. But the ones who are flying standby are tense. They listen to all of the announcements. After all, their name may get called. They stand around and pace. They can't afford to read. They need to pay attention.
That's the gift that God has for us. Confidence. Certainty. Assurance. It is the gift that can help us with living and growing and doing the ministry that we need to do. It is a grand gift. Certainty. It takes the pressure off and lets us focus on those other important things.
            What a gift it is! Many years ago when our country was involved in the Korean Conflict, a little detachment of Marines faced a hopeless future. I say "a little detachments of Marines," actually there were 18,000 of them, and yet they were surrounded by over 100,000 North Koreans. So by comparison, they were indeed a very little detachment.
            It was cold that night, bitterly cold, 42 degrees below zero. That cold! And it wouldn't be long until morning would come and the onslaught would begin. A correspondent was with these Marines, and he noticed a big guy across the way who was eating beans with his knife. He went over to him and they began talking. At one point, he asked him a rather philosophical question. He said, "If I were God and I could grant you anything in the world that you wanted, what would it be?" And the big Marine looked up from his beans and thought a minute. And then he responded with a profound reply. "Anything in the world? That's easy. I would want you to give me the gift of tomorrow!" The gift of tomorrow. That is what we really want isn't it?
            Well guess what? God can grant you what you really long for. And God longs to let you know that you can have tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow right on through eternity. That is the gift of God.    All you have to do is ask and seek and you will find.

7-17-08 Sunrise E Letter

Roger Horrigan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:53:23 -0400

Saturday is the big day!

We'll be at the Marion House Soup Kitchen providing a BBQ for the needy of Colorado Springs. Over 200 people from church have signed up to help! If you didn't have a chance to sign-up, just show up! We'll put you to work. If you can't be there, you can at least pray! Folks have generously covered the costs of the meal as well. So thanks to all of you who are making this kick-off to our 40 Days of Mission such a grand event! Let me say a special thank you to Gary and Karen Wiensch. They came up with the idea and have been the driving force behind it! It wouldn't have happened without them.

Camp Meetings Going Strong!
We are well into our camp meetings-casual worship and great music! Last weekend I started a three-part series on the Basics of Grace. God is always active in our lives but God acts in different ways depending on where we are in our faith journey. Knowing how God works helps us notice that divine action.

If you missed last week, you can get the message at our church website (www.sunriseumc.com) or pick up a CD at the church "store" in the Atrium at Briargate.

This week, we'll talk about "Doubt and Assurance." Is it OK to doubt? Do you have to doubt? How does that impact your faith? How does God work in the midst of that? We'll cover some good questions!

See you this weekend in worship! You won't want to miss it!

Grace and peace,
Marv Vose

Communion-by-Mail Request

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:40:45 -0400

Communion Request

Celebrate Holy Communion with Sunrise Church! We believe that God's table of Communion is open to all. You do not need to be a member of Sunrise to receive Communion.

Please fill out the form below and we will be happy to mail sanctified elements to you. Elements are sent in sets of three. If you desire more than three, please contact the church office at 719.598.7013.

All Church Study: Live Like You Were Dying

Geoff Peters — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:44:47 -0400

Live Like You Were Dying

When: All Church Groups begin the week of September 7th

Register NOW so we can order materials! :)

Location: Sunrise Campuses and in Homes/Groups
Time: When your group meets- evening and day times available
Cost: $10.00 workbook

Childcare: is available for groups meeting at the Church

To live like you were dying is an intense concept! We rarely even speak about dying, let alone live as if death were a certainty. However, what if you were told today that you only had 30 days to live? How would that change your life? Your decisions? Would do do anything differently? Would you seek out long lost family and friends? Would you travel? Learn what it means to love deeper, speak sweeter, give forgiveness and embrace eternity.

Sunrise would like to offer you the resources that speak about the unspeakable. We invite you to be transformed by daily devotions, Sunday messages and 4 weekly discussions centered around a video series presented by Gary Smalley.

If you would like to host this 4 week study at your home, or host a group at church, or have any other questions, please contact Michele Wind at 598-7013 ext. 20.

Group Leader mini briefing and material pick up to be held on Sunday Aug. 17th at Noon in Fellowship Hall and on Wednesday Aug. 20th in the Adult Ministry Office during hours of 4-6pm.

URGENT SUNRISE CHRUCH UPDATE: Marian House BBQ

Karen Wiensch — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:10:41 -0400

Marian House Important Information

The following are Marian House rules that we were unaware of until this morning. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our families that are volunteering.

Absolutely no open toed shoes can be worn.

Children under the age of 13 may not volunteer at the Marian House.

If you do bring young children please be aware that there may be some inappropriate conduct that they could be exposed to.

Any children under the age of 13 must each have one adult right by their sides at all times. This has to be a one on one supervision.

We are suggesting that if you would like to bring your children out to help that you bring them to help set up between 8 and 10:30 or to clean up after 1:30.

Again we do apologize for the misunderstanding and we thank you for offering your help and the help of your children.

Also for those of you who still would like to donate some items we still need over 800 pieces of small uncut and washed fruit, such as apples, bananas, or oranges. Please let me, Karen Wiensch at 598-7013 ext. 28 or karenw@sunriseumc.com know if you will help out with that.

Blessings,
Karen

The Basics of Grace: Just by Trust

Spencer Smith — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:10:53 -0400

Just by Trust
Galatians 3: 1-14

            As some of you know, my extended family lives in the Midwest, but Caroline's family lives mostly on the East Coast. Being dutiful family, we would occasionally make trips back there to visit family.
            Going to New York City for the first time was a trying experience for me. We were having a mini-family reunion there. I had been through the airport, but I had never really spent any time in the City itself. I didn't mind visiting the in-laws. It was the outlaws I was really concerned about. I had heard all of the stories. I had heard about the muggings and the purse snatchings and I was just waiting. Everyone who walked down the street was a potential criminal in my view. After all, why else would they be out walking around in New York City unless they were on the lookout for some unsuspecting Midwesterner?
            My daughter, on the other hand, loved New York. She was probably eight or ten years old at the time and it was her first trip to the Big Apple as well. She thought it was just fantastic! She loved the Big City! It became very obvious that we had very different attitudes one day as we were walking down the sidewalk, hand in hand. Dad was doing his part to protect his daughter. We were walking along and I noticed that someone had broken a beer bottle on the sidewalk. There was broken glass everywhere and I was thinking to myself, "What a bunch of bums! They break their beer bottles on the sidewalk and make everyone else walk through the broken glass. These people obviously have no class whatsoever."
            My daughter saw exactly the same scene. Saw the same sidewalk. Saw the same glass. You know what her comment was? She said, "Oh, daddy, look at that! In New York City even the sidewalks sparkle!" Attitude does make a difference.
            As we were in the City, my attitude started to change. No one hit me over the head. (Not even my in-laws!) No one stole my wallet. N o one even ran off with Caroline's purse. After a while, I began to relax, and then I started to enjoy myself. After a while I even began to marvel at the City. It actually did work-maybe not very well and maybe not all of the time-but it did work and with all of the potential for chaos and tragedy, it worked remarkably well.
            When I went to New York, I didn't trust anyone. When I left, I had gotten to the point where I trusted most of them. Oh, sure, there were still the muggers and the robbers, but they were a small part of the whole
            I tell you that story, because trust is one of those essential ingredients in our world. Without it the world simply doesn't work. Without it people can't be happy. Without it, we cannot have a real relationship with God. Trust is of the utmost importance!
            Developing trust is one of the first tasks for children. Newborns must learn to trust. Psychologists tell us that newborn babies are a great big bundle of wants and needs. (And anyone who has ever gotten up for the 2 a.m. feeding knows that.) They have all of these needs and they cannot possibly begin to meet those needs, but as people, usually parents, begin to meet those needs, the child begins to trust and that sets the whole tone for their lives. If something interrupts that process, then serious problems may result.
            But usually, kids trust pretty well. Have you noticed? Most get that early training and they trust. One day a little boy came home from Kindergarten and announced, "Mom, I have a new girlfriend. Here name is Patty and I am in love." Mom was a little surprised by this. He had never said he was in love before and he did seem a little young, so she asked, "Just how do you know you are in love." But without even pausing he said, "Oh, that's easy. Patty told me." Kids usually trust pretty well.
            Trust is important as we begin our relationship with God. It is so important that is really is the key to our salvation. That's what I said. It is the key to our salvation. This is the beginning of the second movement of God's care for us. When we begin to trust what Jesus has done for us, then we open ourselves up to an authentic relationship with
God. We begin to open ourselves up to God's goodness and love.
            Let me try another fancy phrase on you. You did so well with prevenient grace, let me try one more. Justification by faith. That sounds pretty fancy, doesn't it? Justification by faith. This is the second movement of God's grace. What is means is simply this: we are saved by faith and not by works. We are put into a right relationship with God by trusting in what Jesus has done for us, not by trusting in what we do. Does that make sense? We are made righteous and clean and pure in the eyes of God, by trusting in what Jesus has already done for us. We don't save ourselves, but trust does. That's why I entitled this message Just by Trust, because we are made to look just in the eyes of God by our trust.
            Remember my trip to New York City? My daughter and I looked at the same situation in very different ways. Well, when we are willing to trust Jesus, it changes God' way of looking at us. All of a sudden we look justified, righteous, clean, and pure! Our lives may be a terrible mess. There may be broken relationships. There may be addictions. There may be all kinds of unhealthy things happening morally and spiritually. We may be awful! But when God looks at us, we sparkle! When we trust, we have been put right with God. We ARE righteous in the eyes of God. And our lives begin to change to become more and more what God sees. Pretty amazing isn't it?
            It is so amazing, it is hard to believe. It seems like it is too easy. After all, we are only trusting to God the junk of our lives. That's all that we have to do at the beginning. We don't need to trust God with any of the good stuff. Only the junk. Just the brokenness of our lives. And that seems like it should be easy. But it really isn't easy at all.
            I was teaching an Adult Sunday school class one time and we were talking about justification by faith. One of the students in the class had not been raised in the church. He had started coming with his wife and had gotten hooked by the community. So he didn't have much background in the faith. Finally it got through what we were talking about. I was our trust, our faith that put us right with God and not what we did. And when he understood, he got really mad! Normally he was the nicest, quietest, most pleasant guy you would imagine, but this really got him going. He insisted that he was a nice guy and he really had to work hard to be a nice guy and that was what was going to get him to heaven!
            Sometimes we Christians are really more Jewish than Christian! That's what got Paul so aggravated. Remember our scripture for today? Paul had tried to live according to the law and failed miserably. He saw the Christians at Galatia trying to do the same thing and he wrote to remind them of the source of their salvation.
            But it is still tough to trust, even if it is only with the junk of our lives.
            I went to a seminar once in Fort Lauderdale, where we visited Calvary Chapel. It was a large church, but the pastor, Bob Coy, probably wasn't 40 years old yet. He had never gone to seminary and he had started the church.
            He told us his background. When he got out of high school, he started promoting rock and roll events. Eventually he went to Las Vegas and continued to do that there. He described his life as "drug, sex and rock and roll!" That was the scene he was into. And since he was working at one of the casinos and supervising lots of attractive young women, he had lots of opportunities for "drugs, sex and rock and roll."
            One New Years Even had been and especially wild time and he was even more hung over than usual, when he went to his brother's home on New Year's Day. It was a kind of quiet family time and it got late, so he just decided to stay over. Now you need to know that Bob's life had become increasingly difficult, unpleasant and meaningless. He had not been brought up in a Christian home, so he had never heard about Jesus and knew nothing about the church. But his brother had become a Christian and guess who had been praying for Bob? Right! His brother! So Bob slept on the sofa that night. But about 2:00 in the morning, God woke him up. And just about that time his brother woke up too. He came out and started talking with Bob. Bob told him how empty and desperate his life was. His brother's response was that the only way to find life and meaning and joy was to become a Christian. But Bob resisted, saying, "I can't give up all of the stuff I know I would have to give up!" You see how we like to hang onto the junk of our lives? He didn't think he could give it up, but he did! And he found what he was really looking for! Joy, meaning, purpose-life! But first he had to trust Jesus with the junk of his life.
            When he did, how do you suppose he looked to God? What do you think? I think he sparkled! Just like that broken beer bottle on the sidewalk. His life was shattered, but what God saw sparkled!
            It is so difficult to trust Jesus that most of us will do everything else, before we are willing to trust Jesus. That's the way I did it. I tried everything else! I had been raised in the church, but lost my faith in college and guess what. My life fell a part! What a surprise. But I had to spend years trying everything else, before I was willing to trust again. And when I did, what do you suppose my life looked like to God. I was a mess, but I think God saw the sparkles!
            And over the years, God invited me to trust more and more of my life to him. While I was still in seminary, I was serving a couple of little country churches. Caroline and I were both paying for school and I was just working part-time and getting a very part-time salary, but one of the wise old patriarchs of the church said, "Don't you worry about that. We've never had a pastor go hungry yet." Then he thought for a minute and said, "We've had a few that got kinda skinny, but they never went hungry."
            That's the way it works, isn't it? We begin by trusting God with our brokenness and junk. And then God gives us a bigger challenge that we can't do alone and we have to rely on God.
            Corrine Ten Boom was one of those remarkable people who had walked with God long and well. If you don't recognize the name, she was the author of The Hiding Place and a number of other books. She was interred in a Nazi prison camp during World War II, because she and he family helped the Jews escape imprisonment and death. She learned to trust God for guidance and for her daily needs and with her ministry.
            In one of her books, she tells of going to Russia with a suitcase full of Bibles. Now in those days, the Russians did not like that. In fact, it was illegal. So when she saw the customs agent searching the luggage thoroughly, she was afraid. The agent was searching every suitcase. And she said to herself, "What will he do when he finds my Bibles? Send me back to Holland? Put me in prison.
            In her fear, she closed her eyes and prayed a silent prayer. As she opened her eyes, she saw just a glimpse of something strange about her suitcase. It was almost as if for a split second the suitcase had been ringed by luminous beings-like angels. And Corrie's fear was gone.
            Slowly she slid her suitcase along the stainless steel table to the customs agent who was doing such a good job. Finally she was standing right before him.
            "Is this your suitcase?" he asked.
            "Yes, sir," she answered.
            "It seems to be very heavy," as he picked it up.
            "It is very heavy," Corrie agreed.
            The customs agent smiled. He said, "Since you are the last one to come through the line I now have time to help you. If you will follow me, I shall carry it for you out to your taxi." And so away she went, singing silent hallelujahs all the way!
            So where are you? Maybe God has been quietly working on you for a long time, but you were kind of hoping that you could get by with just being a nice person. Maybe you have never been quite able to let go of the junk of your life. Or maybe there is something else that has such a hold on you, that you just can't quite entrust that to God. Or maybe ...
            Today is the day. Now is the time to allow God to take control of all of that. Today!

Marv Vose - The Basics of Grace: Just by Trust

Spencer Smith — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:07:52 -0400

The Basics of Grace: Just by Trust

Spencer Smith — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:05:07 -0400

7-10-08 Re Marian House

Roger Horrigan — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:17:52 -0400

The BBQ at the Marian House is doing great but we still could use a little more help. If you're coming out on the 19th can you bring a cooler full of ice and if you can, please call or email Gary Wiensch 337-8538 - garyw@sunriseumc.com because we don't want to get more than we have room for. We are also looking for some free standing awnings to borrow. Let Gary know if you have one we can use.

We were asked to please make sure that we keep all the garbage picked up at all times so as not to upset any of the neighbors if the wind comes up. If you have small buckets, such as beach pails, gallon ice cream buckets or just small buckets we are planning to put some of the children to work policing the area and using them for garbage.

Pepsi has agreed to donate 1000 cans of soda but we are asking that each person only take one at first so we make sure we have enough for the guests.

Come on out and help and have some fun at the same time. See you at the Marian House. Info and a map will be in the bulletin this weekend.

FX fun!

Geoff Peters — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:32:15 -0500

Did you have a blast at FX? Tell us all about it! What was your favorite part? What should we do next time?

7-9-2008 Sunrise E Letter

Roger Horrigan — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:29:34 -0400

Summer Camp Meetings!

What a great start to our camp meetings we had last week! We'll continue to worship in that relaxed, informal, enthusiastic way throughout the month of July. But every week will be special, so you don't want to miss any of them!

I'll be talking about "The Basics of Grace" for the next three weeks. God's grace always meets us where we are. Our Christian development has some major steps along the way. This weekend we'll be talking about how God's grace begins its work in our lives. The message title is "Just by Trust." I'll explain that more this weekend!

This will be the last week for the Slider family. Many of you know Dale Slider as the Lay Leader of our congregation. Susan Slider has been the moving force behind the Connection Café and the catering done at church. So, in honor of their ministry, we are going to have a Farewell Dinner this Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. and we aren't even going to have Susan cook! (Ron Cilek has been nice enough to volunteer for the cooking.) So if you would like to celebrate the Slider's ministry with us and say "good-bye," come this Saturday evening to Woodmen at 7:00 p.m.

And I'll see you in worship this weekend!

Blessings,

Marv Vose

The July Communicator is available on-line. Just click on "Newsletter" below and get the latest information on what's happening at church. If you would like to get a paper copy of this, please call the church office at 598-7013 or rogerh@sunriseumc.com..

What's Keeping You from God?

Spencer Smith — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:48:06 -0400

What's Keeping You From God? Matthew 5:21-26 (The Message)

21-22"You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' (Raca = good for nothing, fool) and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' (fool) at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire (Gehenna - valley where trash was burned). The simple moral fact is that words kill.

23-24"This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.

25-26"Or say you're out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don't lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you're likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won't get out without a stiff fine.

When I was a kid growing up, there was this great football player that everyone seemed to idolize. He had been a Heisman trophy winner in college. As an NFL running back he had received numerous awards and broken numerous records. What I remember though, was not his football, but the commercials that he starred in...running through airports, jumping over suitcases, showing off his nimble athleticism, just as he did on the football field. To me O.J. Simpson was the spokesman for Hertz Car Rental.

That's the way I remembered him until that bizarre day in 1994 when I watched, probably with many of you, that strange low-speed car chase through the highways and bi-ways of southern California. Obviously, there was a lot about OJ Simpson that I didn't know and probably didn't want to know.

Fortunately, we seemed to stop hearing about the trials and tribulations of OJ Simpson for quite a while...that is until last fall when all of a sudden OJ Simpson was back in the news again...and not for something good.

You may remember the story, it had been reported that OJ Simpson and several associates had broken into a Las Vegas hotel room and at gunpoint taken some Simpson memorabilia. OJ's explanation? They had taken my stuff (sports equipment, etc.) and I was simply taking back what was mine! Oh yeah, and there were no guns.

I was mad. They had stuff that they had stolen from me, so I was just taking it back. Kind of like a school yard brawl over who the ball belonged to.

I don't know OJ Simpson and all that he has gone through in his life...but it seems as though somewhere he got off track...maybe way off track.

In the most recent incident, he got angry at what someone had done and acted in anger to rectify the situation.

Contrast that with what Jesus was talking about in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus is talking to a group of people that know the Old Testament. They know the 10 Commandments. But Jesus is telling his followers that they may not fully understand the commandments that they have been taught to follow. They knew that they weren't supposed to kill, but Jesus was saying that if you were angry with your brother or sister (used in a broad sense of someone that you lived in community with - not just a sibling) that you were guilty of murder.

What? If you were angry you were guilty as if you committed murder? Jesus isn't talking about the average run of the mill, someone cut me off in traffic and so I am momentarily angry at this person that I have never seen before and will never again see...I'll get over that anger in a matter of minutes.

No, Jesus was talking about the kind of anger that is long-lived. It is the anger of one who nurses his wrath to keep it warm; the anger that one will just not let go; the anger over which one broods. The kind of anger that perhaps OJ Simpson had at the people that had "taken" his stuff...he couldn't let it go...he couldn't just report the robbery to the police and then just let it go.

In Matthew, this anger is in Greek orgizesthai which comes from the Greek orge (long e) which describes this long lasting type of anger. It is an anger that refused to be pacified, that seeks revenge, that won't be forgotten.

This is the type of anger that Jesus said was as bad as murder. It is insidious and damaging. It seeks to destroy another...even unto death. It is contemptuous.

It might get you in trouble. If you call someone idiot as today's translation reads. "Raca" in the Greek: brainless idiot, silly fool, empty headed blunderer. One who is despised with an arrogant contempt . Call someone this and you might get called into court - today it would be for slandering someone's good name.

Or call someone "moros" (first o long): a fool - one who lives their life as if there were no God - they may know that God exists, but they live their lives with reckless abandon as if God didn't exist, someone with no moral code. Call someone this and you might just end up in the fires that burn in Gehenna: a hellish place where the trash was burned just outside of Jerusalem. Jesus was telling his followers that they were not the judge of someone else's beliefs or actions. That was not their place.
Jesus told his followers that if they had such a grudge against another, that they needed to go and clear it up before they could make their offering in the Temple. The kind of offering that Jesus was talking about was not what we would think of today as the offering. In Jewish tradition, there were a number of different types of offerings - probably the one Jesus was talking about here was the "sin offering". To atone for their sin, there was a prescribed animal or grain sacrifice (as detailed in the Old Testament) that was to be brought before the Temple priest. But the sin offering couldn't be brought forward until whatever had been done wrong had been rectified. In other words, you couldn't just "buy" your way out of whatever you had done by bringing your offering.

Jesus is re-emphasizing this by saying that if you get to the altar to bring your offering and you realize that things have not been reconciled between you and another person, then your offering is of no value...you have to go and reconcile with the other person first.

You can't offer your sacrifice to God to make things right with God, if things aren't right with your fellow human beings. Worship of God can't happen until reconciliation with our brothers and sisters occurred.

Remember when Jesus was questioned as to the most important commandment? He said that the first was to love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind and strength and that the second most important was to love your neighbor as yourself. They are so closely related that you can't love God and worship God if you aren't loving your neighbor.

Bottom line, God knows the state of your heart. If you haven't reconciled with your brother or sister...you can't reconcile with God. There is a man-made barrier there.

Remember Jesus said we must love our neighbor as ourselves...maybe that's part of the problem...maybe we don't love ourselves as we should. Maybe we harbor stuff that makes us feel unlovable and because we don't love ourselves we can't love anyone else?

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In
the room of two hundred, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands
started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 bill to one of you
but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the $20 bill up. He then
asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well,"
he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started
to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and
dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I
did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled,
and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that
come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has
happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes.
To God, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are always
priceless." (Traditional - from eSermons.com)

Did you catch that? To God, we are priceless! We really are. God created us in God's own image. We weren't created to be junk, to be discarded. ...and if we really are priceless...then wouldn't we want to care for ourselves and others as we would a priceless treasure?

So, if we can understand and value ourselves as a priceless treasure and we are to love others as we love and value ourselves, then don't we want to do all that we can to reconcile with our brothers and sisters.

That can be tough to do can't it? You remember the story of Judas and the betrayal of Jesus? Judas sold information to the chief priests about where and when they could find and arrest Jesus. Judas was trying to force Jesus to reveal who he was to everyone.

Much to Judas' chagrin, Jesus went quietly when the chief priests came to arrest him. He didn't fight back as they tortured him and nailed him to the cross. He didn't perform some miraculous feat (at least to Judas' eyes) while on the cross...he just died.

Unfortunately for Judas he didn't wait to see the miracle of the resurrection. Instead Judas seemed to be convinced that he was lower than dirt for having betrayed Jesus. He was sure that he was no longer of value in God's kingdom...that all was lost...that what he had done had separated him from God forever.

The sad part is that Judas missed the whole message of Jesus...that Jesus came to forgive us of all our sins no matter how large or small. The very one that Judas betrayed is the very one that would have forgiven him for that betrayal...all that Judas had to do was to ask. Judas let his sin keep him from God...from God's saving grace...from God's love...from God's promises.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tries to tell his followers that he doesn't want any of them to let anything keep them from God.

If we fail to settle our disputes with our fellow human beings, we may not be literally taken to court and thrown in jail (although that is certainly possible). There are many ways that we harbor anger or hurt towards others and them towards us that are not violations of any secular law. But Jesus wants us to know that the time of judgment for all of us is coming near and that we need to settle things now. In a dispute, it would seem that it would be better to settle out of court than to go to trial.

Are we really following Jesus' commandments to love the Lord our God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourself?

Don't wait until it is too late to make amends...Don't be like OJ and let revenge be your guide. Now is the time...today is the day to set aside the anger, the hurt, the disputes between yourself and another that are keeping you from being able to worship God.

I can't tell you what it is that is in your heart that is keeping you from truly being able to worship today. You know what it is and God knows what it is.

Robert Schuller once wrote, "There will never be another now - I'll make the most of today. There will never be another me - I'll make the most of myself." (Robert Schuller - p. 152 - Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!)

What's keeping you from God?

Now is the time to give it up before God. Today is the day to settle that dispute.

We are going to give you the opportunity to confess before God that which you have held in anger in your heart. The ushers will direct you to come down the center aisle to receive a piece of bread and a cup of juice as together we celebrate the Lord's Supper. If you would like to pause and kneel at the altar or sit in the front pew to have lift before God that which has kept you from being able to fully worship, I encourage you to do so. If you would like to take communion and then leave by the side doors, you may do that as well.

Jesus invites each of us to take this bread and this juice to remember the great sacrifice that he made for each of us. He gave his life that our sins might be taken away...that we might have the chance for a new life in Christ. Don't miss this chance to get right with God. All are welcome. Let us pray...

God, as we come forward for communion this morning, help us to give up to you those barriers that have kept us from being able to worship you. Where we have a dispute with our neighbor or our neighbor a dispute with us, help us to be the first to act to rectify the situation that we might truly be able to offer ourselves to you...to love you with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to be able to love our neighbors with that same kind of love. Make it so, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Come...

What's keeping You from God?

Spencer Smith — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:23:41 -0400

7-2-08 Sunrise E Letter

Roger Horrigan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:02:07 -0400

Camp meetings!

Our Camp Meeting worship services begin this weekend. We have not done these summer favorites for some time, but I know you will enjoy them! They will be relaxed, informal, powerful and filled with great music! The services have their origin in the American frontier, so the style and order of service will be a little different. But you are going to love it!

40 Days of Mission

40 Days of Mission is just around the corner. We'll start on July 19^th by working with the Marion House Soup Kitchen to provide a picnic and a barbeque for the working poor and homeless in our community.

What a great kick-off for our 40 Days of Mission! Jesus specifically invites us to feed the hungry and thirsty, clothe the needy, and visit those who are sick and in prison. When we do that, we do it for Jesus! Most of us never have an opportunity to personally provide for those who really struggle with the basics of life. July 19^th is that opportunity! We'll do it specifically for Jesus.

Just one word of caution: please do not expect to be thanked for your service. Please do not expect any expressions of gratitude. I know that is pretty ingrained in all of us, but that will probably not happen at this event. There are too many issues of power and self-esteem involved for gratitude to be shared. But God will definitely take note of this!

Thanks in advance for all of your help. Please sign-up at worship this week-end or pick up one of the cards that tells how you can help. There is a great variety of tasks required to make this a success. And please join me in praying for this will be for God's glory.

See you in worship this weekend!

Blessings,

Marv Vose

Marv Vose - Home of the Free?

Spencer Smith — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:10:21 -0400

Home of the Free?

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:07:52 -0400

Home of the Free?

Zechariah 9:9-13

There is within each of us a deep, deep desire to be free. I'm convinced it is a part of the human soul. We long to be free, unfettered, and able to do as we please. It is especially bad, this longing, after a hard day at work, where the boss seemed dictatorial or the rules didn't make sense. Or maybe it was a hard day on the diet. The draw of that chocolate covered sundae was so strong and you just wanted to rip up the diet book and throw it away! Or maybe the Doctor said, you have to start exercising--again. And that is just your most unfavorite thing in the whole wide world!

It starts early. Real early! Kids start rebelling at the rules as soon as they realize there are rules.

One Mom had sent her youngest, Jason, to catch the school bus. Jason was about six-years-old. But Mom's morning was interrupted by a knock at the door. She flew to the door only to find Jason, the kid who was supposed to be getting on the school bus.

She said, "What are you doing here?"

He said, "I've quit school."

"Quit school," Mom asks. "Why have you quit school?"

Without hesitation Jason says, "It's too long, it's too hard and it's too boring!"

"Jason," Mom says, "you have just described life. Get on the bus!"

Kids think that when they grow up, they will be free. If they can just get a job so they have money, life will be incredible. If they can just get that license to drive the car they will really be free! They can do wherever they want! Grown-ups know better. One person described freedom as "being able to do what you please without considering anyone except your wife, the police, your boss, your life insurance company, your doctor, your airline, federal and state authorities, and your neighbors." You get the idea.

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, it is worth asking how free we really are. We are celebrating independence, but how free are we really? I was pondering that this week and this is my answer. Yours may be different, but this is my answer. I think we are free to choose our own Master. We are free to choose that thing, person, idea or whatever that will control us.

Now that is a pretty important freedom: to be able to choose what our Master is. That's big stuff.

Choosing ones Master is an important freedom. When Jesus lived, the country was under the oppression of Roman rule, but they had another master to contend with. The church of the day oppressed the people, as well.

Maybe you have been watching the supposedly free, democratic elections in Zimbabwe. President Mugabe is forcing a run-off election even though his only opponent, whom he has arrested several times, has withdrawn for fear of his own life and the lives of his supporters. They would love to be able to freely choose their master, but its not going to happen this time!

In war-ravaged Sudan, you can buy a slave for $15. Did you know that. That's right. Many of them are Christians. Women or children sold for $15. The men have been killed. According to Michael Horowitz, who spoke at General Conference in Cleveland, two million Christians have died in Sudan at the hands of the Islamic Fundamentalist Sudanese Government. Hard to imagine in this day that something so archaic and barbaric is still being practiced.

But in this country, we get to choose our master today. We don't have to pay taxes without representation. We are not run by a foreign country. (Unless, of course, you consider Washington, D.C. a foreign country.) The church can't force you to do anything. We do not live in fear of slavery. But there are other masters and some of them very obvious, but others are so slick and subtle that we don't even recognize them until they are running the show.

The obvious ones include all of the addictions that seem so pervasive in our society. They run the gamut from drug and alcohol addictions to work addictions and computer addictions to TV and computer games. But they end up running the show. We can choose those addictions to be our Master.

Or we can choose the more subtle ones. Just about anything can get a hold of us if we are ready to allow it. Take for example, "fun." This Fourth of July week-end is a great time to talk about fun. Even fun can trap us. I'm not talking about your ordinary garden variety fun, the kind we all need and want, but a different kind of fun. The kind that can run us and really isn't "fun" anymore.

It is the kind of fun that tells us that everything is life really ought to be fun. If it isn't fun, then something is wrong. That idea of fun is the kind of idea that sends some people to their pushers and others to their liquor cabinets. It sometimes pushes us to take medications for depression, when we really ought to be checking to see what needs to be dealt with.

I once counseled a man who was enslaved by fun. Now I know that sounds silly, but it is true. He was 38 years old at the time I talked with him, but he really had the maturity of an 18 year old. Everything in his life had to be fun! He was a brilliant man, but he wouldn't take any promotions at work, because the work was boring and besides, it might interfere with his fun. So he stayed on the assembly line at the factory. He was married, but he had been "going out on dates" since the third day of his marriage. Can you imagine that? Finally his marriage broke up, or rather, I should say, he broke it up. He couldn't stand himself, anymore, but he was convinced that he couldn't change. And he really thought he was right. Here was someone who was trapped by having fun.

What's so amazing is that virtually anything has the power to trap us. Almost anything. We can take one thing off the throne of our lives and something else takes its place.

It's like the book Animal Farm. When I was in high school, that book was required reading. In case you are from a different era and they didn't make you read that book, let me review it for you. It was about a farm where the farm animals became dissatisfied with the way the farmer was running the farm. So the animals decided to stage a revolution and get rid of the farmer. They decided that the animals would run the farm and if the animals did it, then things would be much better. But an interesting thing happened. After a while the animals who were running the farm began to act just like the farmer whom hey had revolted against. The animals who were running the farm started to wear clothes, just like the farmer. They started to eat just like the farmer. They started to run the farm just like the farmer had done before!

So it is with whatever we decide to put on the throne of our life. It starts top run us. It starts to rule us, no matter what it is.

There is only one exception to that rule. At least as far as I know, there is only one exception. Really, only one. That exception is the king talked about in our scripture today. The king who is triumphant and yet humble. The king who rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Do you remember how Jesus came into Jerusalem for the last time? He was riding on a donkey. Many believe that his act fulfilled this prophecy. He was living out the prophet Zechariah's prediction.

When I read that scripture, I couldn't help but think about how funny it would be if the presidential contenders, Barack Obama and John McCain, drove to Colorado Springs, not in a campaign bus or a limousine, but in an old, beat-up VW beetle. Wouldn't that be funny? Can you imagine that happening? But if one of them did, you would know that we had a different kind of presidential contender on our hands.

That's the way it was with Jesus. He didn't come as a warrior king, riding on a white stallion, but a king to set his people free. Really free. When he came, he gave us a whole new idea about what a king is supposed to be like. People weren't expecting that kind of King.

It is like the story of Orville. Orville worked for the Grindit Company. He was the very lowest employee. He worked in the basement sorting mail and running errands. One day, while he was working, Orville notice a bug. He was about to smash it flat when the bug spoke. He said, "Spare me and I'll grant you a wish." Orville couldn't pass up a deal like that, so he said, "I want to be promoted to the second floor."

The very next day, Orville was working on the second floor. But what was that? Footsteps up above. Orville realized there was a third floor. The very next day, Orville was promoted to the third floor. Each time he was promoted, he got more pay and more status. His rise to the top was meteoric. He went to the tenth floor-then the twentieth floor-then to the thirtieth. Before long he was lounging around the indoor pool on the ninety-sixth floor of the Grindit Company and enjoying the good life. But after a while, he was investigating and found some stairs to the roof of the building. He climbed up the stairs and out on to the roof only to find a boy praying to God.

Orville was upset. "What are you doing up here? Who are you praying to?" The boy answered, "I'm praying to God," and the boy pointed to the heavens. Orville was really upset now. The bug was summoned again and Orville demanded, "Make me God! Make me the highest. Put me in the kind of position the King of the universe would hold."

And do you know what? Orville got his request. The very next day he was back in the basement in the mailroom.

You see Jesus turned upside down the whole idea of King. Instead of exercising power and authority over his subjects, Jesus came to set them free. Really free. He did it not by demanding obedience to exterior rules, but by allowing people to change their hearts and their desires from the inside out. That's what happens to us as Christians. What we desire, what we long for, what we want is changed and when we want what God wants then we have that perfect freedom.

That freedom is available for everyone. It's been available for a long time. Because of what Jesus did so long ago. Near the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil is a remarkable facility. It was started 20 years ago by the Brazilian government, when they turned the prison over to two Christians. The institution was renamed Humaita, and the plan was to run it on Christian principles. With the exception of the two full-time staff, all the work is done by inmates. Families outside the prison adopt an inmate to work with during and after his term. Chuck Colson visited the prison and made a report.

"When I visited Humaita I found the inmates smiling-particularly the murderer who held the keys, opened the gates and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men at peace. I saw clean living areas, people working industriously. The walls were decorated with biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs. My guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that block houses only a single inmate. As we reached the end of a long concrete corridor and he put the key in the lock, he paused and asked, "are you sure you want to go in?"

"'Of course,' I replied impatiently, ‘I've been in isolation cells all over the world.' Slowly he swung open the massive door, and I saw the prisoner in that punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the inmates-the prisoner Jesus, hanging on cross.

The guide said softly, "He's doing time for the rest of us." And so he is.

I'm not as free as I would like to be, but I am one of those "prisoners of hope" that Zechariah talks about. I am free and I know I will become more and more free because of the master I have chosen.

6-26-2008 Sunrise E Letter

Roger Horrigan — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:11:41 -0400

It's been a Beach Party at church this week!

Vacation Bible School kids have been surfin' through the scriptures. The theme of the week is taken from I John 3:18. "Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." What a great passage of scripture! And from the noise level and all of the smiles, they have really been living out this scripture!

Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard-teachers, helpers, musicians, storytellers, snack makers and on and on. You have all done a terrific job! Special thanks goes to Sharilyn Bartelt for organizing everything and making it run so smoothly. Great job!

This weekend, we'll get to hear the VBS kids sing! They will be at the Saturday evening service at 6:00 p.m. at Woodmen and at the 10:30 service at Briargate. You won't want to miss this!

See you this weekend in worship!

Grace and peace,

Marv Vose

Marv Vose - How Should Cowboys Treat Vegetarians?

Spencer Smith — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:48:23 -0400

How Should Cowboys Treat Vegetarians?

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:29:36 -0400

I Corinthians 8:1-13

            I had called up a young couple to invite them to our house for dinner. I got the husband on the phone and we were having a nice conversation. It turned out that they would be able to come for dinner. We had agreed on a time and a date, when I asked if they were adventurous in their eating habits. You know how it is. Some people love hot, spicy food. Others would prefer just meat and potatoes without salt or pepper. So just to make sure, I asked if they were adventurous or not. And there was a kind of pause on the other end of the line. Finally he said, "Well, my wife has never eaten meat. I have tasted it, but that was a long time ago. As a practice neither of us eats meat."

            That was not exactly what I had expected. But then I realized that for religious reasons, they did not eat meat. They were both Seventh Day Adventists.

            So what was I going to do? I suppose I could have done lots of things. I could have said, "Well, if that's the way you are going to be about it, you can just forget that invitation to dinner!" I could have said that. Or I could have tried to belittle them or talk them out of it. I could have said something like, "That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard of! Everybody knows that there isn't any problem with eating meat." If I had said that, they probably would have decided they didn't really want to have dinner with us. Or I could have been sneaky. I could have put some meat in their dinner for the evening, all ground up and then after dinner surprise them with that information. And said, "You see, that meat didn't hurt you at all!"

            I would guess that all of us have been confronted with a similar situation from time to time and those situations are becoming more and more frequent. It's because we now live in a pluralistic culture. The day when everyone was a Catholic or a mainline Protestant is gone and we are struggling with how we related to those with faiths that seem very different to us.

            In Great Britain, the Queen is charged with the duty of defending the faith. That is part of her job. Now what that word "faith" means is the Church of England. It is the faith in England. But Prince Charles has said that if he becomes King, he will be the defender of the faiths. Plural. Not just singular. That is the kind of change that we are dealing with in our culture and in our world. It is a world of pluralism.

            Your experience of that may be varied. Maybe you had to deal with trying to buy Christmas presents for the grandkids, whose parents don't celebrate Christmas. What do you do in that situation? Or maybe it was dealing with an in-law of another faith. Or what about that nice Mormon family who lives just down the street? They seem like such nice people.

            Or maybe it was right here at Sunrise. You have wondered how those people on Saturday night could really worship with such loud music or those people at the Taize service? What is that anyway? Some years ago, we did an experiment with lots of different styles of worship. Taize was one of those. The best comment was from a lady who said, "My husband always goes to sleep in church, but in that Taize service, he went to sleep faster!"

            Or maybe it has been a theological issue that you struggled with. Abortion or world hunger, or pacifism or alcohol or smoking or human sexuality or some other issue. What do you do?

            Those issues are similar to the issue presented in the scripture for today. In those days, the people were very superstitious. They were even more superstitious than today. They believed that demons were everywhere. Everywhere! You had to constantly be on the look out for them. And they loved to live in meat! So you had to watch the meat. And because meat was so dangerous, it was almost impossible to get meat that hadn't been sacrificed to some idol or blessed in the name of some god. It was the way people protected meat. Remember, this is before refrigeration!

            But what about these new Christians who had just recently been worshipping those idols? They didn't really want to eat that meat that had been sacrificed to the idols. It gave them pangs of conscience. And their faith was still fragile!

            But there was another group that was more mature in their faith. It didn't bother them to eat meat sacrificed to idols. They knew there were no other Gods than the one true God and so they didn't mind at all eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. They knew the idols were not real. Those folks had written to Paul for advice. They were essentially asking, "What are we going to do with these dummies who are afraid to eat meat?"

            And that is the real questions, isn't it? What do you do with those folks? How do you act towards them? How should the spiritually mature treat the spiritually immature? How do we live in a pluralistic society?

            It is such a challenge because we know we are right. We know what has changed our life. We know what has given us meaning and fulfillment. If it works for us, it should work for everyone else. Isn't that our attitude?

Did you hear about the atheist who sued to have Christmas and Easter eliminated as holidays? Yes, he went to court, because it wasn't fair. Atheists don't have any holidays, he argued. But these Christians get holidays all of the time. But the judge threw the case out. He ruled that atheists do have a holiday. The atheist was furious! He asked the judge, "Just went do we have a holiday?" And the judge replied, "Every April first-April Fool's Day!"

            So when you are convinced you are right, that you have the keys to the kingdom, how do you deal with other Christians who have very different approaches. How do you deal with folks who are at different places in their spiritual journey? How do you deal with folks who values things about the faith that are different from your priorities?

            Here's what you don't do. Paul leaves this out. His silence can be as eloquent as what he says. You don't try to educate those poor dummies. He is NOT suggesting that you hold a seminar entitled How to Eat the Meal of Idols and Enjoy It. He doesn't even say anything about how to get them to grow up into Christ. He turns around the question and actually accuses those who ask the question of lacking love and understanding. Now that is a nasty turn, isn't it?

            My guess is that Paul left it out because of what he says about knowledge. Paul recognizes that Knowledge is very, very important, but it has its limits. Too often knowledge puffs us up instead of building up the body of Christ. Sometimes our supposed knowledge is illusory. Sometimes it is simply dead wrong. Sometimes our knowledge is simply too limited. We don't know enough.

            My guess is that Paul didn't suggest a seminar on meat eating, because he knew how it would make those simple people feel. It would feel like a put down. They would feel like second class Christians. It would make them feel like they were on the "outs" with God. To say you are going to straighten someone out assumes that you know what is going on and they don't. To be rejected in that way is a very powerful kind of thing, but it doesn't usually change things for the better. Usually it just pushes people away or creates a wall.

            A man decided to conduct a study of churches across the country, so he flew to San Francisco and decided he would work his way East. The first church he visited had a golden phone with a sign above it that said, "$10,000 per minute." Well, this intrigued the man, so he asked the pastor what that was all about. The pastor informed him that this phone was a direct link to God. All you had to do was pay the price.

            The man was fascinated by this concept and so as he continued to visit churches for his study, he started to look for more golden phones. And sure enough, at every church he visited he found a golden phone with the same sign; "$10,000 per minute."

            Finally he arrived in Colorado and visited a church, found the golden phone, but the sign read "25 cents per minute." The man was shocked, so he asked the pastor about it. "All the other phones said $10,000 per minute, but yours only costs 25 cents. Why is that?" The pastor smiled and said, "In Colorado, it is a local call."

            We know we are closer to heaven, but we can't shout that too loud! We don't want to put other people down. Paul doesn't want us to inflict that on anyone.

            What he does say is that you have to care more for those simple souls. You have to care more for the spiritually immature. You have to go to great lengths to include them. He even went so far as to say that you have to give up some of your own personal freedom for the good of the group. He understood that the mature Christians knew how silly it was to be worried about eating meat, but what about the other folks? If you actions get in their way, is it worth it? Is your freedom worth more that the maturing of others? Paul says "no."

            We have a hard time hearing that! Our culture values personal, individual freedom so much that we put up with orange hair on punk rockers and ugly black on Goths in the name of freedom. We tolerate things on TV and the media for the sake of free speech and the First Amendment.

            But Paul says that sometimes our exercise of our freedom can be damaging to the whole. And if it is, it isn't worth it. Our individual freedom has to take place to the good of the whole.

            Now this doesn't mean that we have to believe what other people believe. It doesn't mean that we have to become spiritually immature. It doesn't mean that we let those folks walk all over us. Paul was adamant about not following parts of the law.

            What we have to do is to be willing enough to care about people to include them. Even if they exclude us, we have to work on including them. That's tough. I know it is. It is really hard. But that is what Paul is talking about.

            Edwin Markham, an American poet, put it to verse. This is what he said.

            "He drew a circle that shut me out--
            Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
            But Love and I had the wit to win:
            We drew a circle that took him in!"

That is really hard to do. Really hard. But guess what? The only reason we are in the circle is because Jesus was willing to do what was hard and draw the circle big enough to include us! We may be spiritually mature, but we haven't always been that way. But Jesus included us. And we may be spiritually mature, but you know what? I don't know everything yet. In fact, I can tell you this, there are some things that I am wrong about. My tiny little brain and feeble soul are simply too small to be able to comprehend God and God's grandeur. But Jesus has been drawing that circle big enough to include me for a longtime.

            And it works. There is incredible power in being included. Paul knew that. Jesus knew that. When we are included and accepted then we can grow and develop. We can become more and more the people that God longs for us to become.

            It works for us and it works for others. Sometimes it takes a long time, but it does work. I got a letter from a lady who used to teach a Sunday school class at a church I served. She was a certified schoolteacher, but because of personal problems, she had difficulty finding a job in the teaching profession. But we decided to take a chance on her and let her teach in the Sunday school. She wanted to teach so badly, so we let her. We kept a close eye on her, but we let her teach. She loved the kids. That much was clear. And after a while she won them over, in spite of her personal problems. Her concern for the children shone through and she did a good job. While it was going on, I suspected that the class was helping her as much as she was helping them. But I never knew for sure, until I got her letter.

            She talked about the class and what it meant to her. She talked about her personal problems. There were even more than I knew about. And she talked about the church. She called it her "source and strength." Pretty strong words.

            You see, she had found a place where she belonged, even with all of her problems and because of that, she had found the courage to tackle those problems.

            So how should the spiritually mature treat the immature? How should a Christian treat an atheist?   Paul's focus was on caring and inclusion. How should a cowboy treat a vegetarian? The cowboy should invite the vegetarian over for dinner, and serve a nice, green salad for dinner. Even if he doesn't like salads.

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